Breath of Life
by Asakura Mei
Summary: Hikaru dreams of visiting other worlds. With her friends Mizuko and Daichi, she tries to find a way to accomplish her dream. But what happens when this dream pulls her into an adventure she never expected? Now, with new allies, Hikaru must fight to get back her friends and reclaim the world she lost. A re-imagining of Kingdom Hearts.


**Disclaimer** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. I do, however, own Hikaru and any other characters who do not appear in the game, or other Disney films.

**Notes** Well, this is the first fanfiction I've written in a _long_ time. I stopped, since writing isn't really my forte, but I decided to give it another shot! This story is somewhat of an experiment, so please let me know what you think. It's a reimagining of sorts of Kingdom Hearts. I was inspired for this by the song Breath of Life by Florence + The Machine (more by the sound of the song than the actual lyrics. It's the music I imagine Hikaru's Dive to the Heart to). I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Breath of Life**

A reimagining of Kingdom Hearts

**Prologue: Into the Dark**

_Don't forget—you are the one who will open the door._

Hikaru woke with a start, almost toppling out of her seat and effectively drawing the attention of her entire second-period math class. She flushed a deep shade of red and sank down into her chair in the vain hope that maybe no one would notice her that way.

"I'm sorry that you find my class so dull as to put you to sleep, Hikaru," her teacher said, but there was more amusement than annoyance in her voice, as though this were a situation that occurred regularly.

Hikaru sighed and straightened back up. "I'm so sorry, Miss Hepburn. I promise it won't happen again."

"Be sure that it doesn't. Next time, I _will_ give you detention," Miss Hepburn replied quietly before returning to her lesson. Quadratics today, something Hikaru was abysmally bad at.

Hikaru rubbed her temples and returned her gaze and her pen to her notes. She scribbled down bits and pieces of what Miss Hepburn was saying, but her mind really wasn't on school today. Truth be told, this _was_ becoming a regular occurrence for her—falling asleep in class, that is. And having strange dreams. Today's in particular really shook her. She tried to take her mind off of it and take some proper notes, seeing as they'd likely be getting tested on it at the end of the week. Unfortunately, by the end of class, she'd only taken down a fraction of what she assumed she'd need. She decided she'd ask her friend Mizuko for her notes after school.

As the end-of-period bell sounded, Hikaru gathered up her books and shoved them unceremoniously into her backpack. She hoisted the bag onto her shoulder and left the room, waiting just outside the door for Mizuko.

"Are you sure you're getting enough sleep, Hikaru? That's about the fourth time you've fallen asleep in class in the past month," Mizuko commented as she met up with her friend, and the two made their way to the school's cafeteria for lunch.

"I'm sleeping my usual eight hours," Hikaru replied, grabbing a tray from the end of the long serving table as they passed. "Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm even asleep, it feels like I'm somewhere else..." she shook her head as she trailed off. What she was saying was crazy, wasn't it? There was no way she could just be disappearing from class without anyone noticing.

She and Mizuko got their lunches—pizza and a hot sandwich respectively—and, after paying, scanned the large, open room for the third member of their trio, Daichi. They spotted him at one of the smaller tables in the corner, gazing absently out one of the large windows that lined the walls of the cafeteria. He jumped slightly when the two girls took their seats and turned to face them.

"Little late today you two," he commented, taking note of Hikaru's slightly exasperated expression. "Something happen?"

"Hikaru fell asleep in class again," Mizuko informed him before taking a large bite of her sandwich. After chewing quickly and swallowing, she continued, "this time the teacher actually noticed."

Daichi raised an eyebrow and repeated Mizuko's earlier question: "Are you sure you're getting enough sleep? It's really not like you to be so tired in class." He took a bite of his own lunch—a rather large order of french fries.

Hikaru sighed and stared down at her pizza, suddenly not feeling much like eating. "It's not even that I'm tired, I just..." She debated in her head for a few minutes whether or not she should confide in her friends how she really felt about these "sleeping" spells. In the end, her need to not keep things inside until she went crazy won out, and she began explaining in a somewhat frantic voice. "It's always something different that happens, but I'm always in this same place. It's like every time it happens, it picks up from where it left off the time before," she began. "I'm falling, and all around me is darkness. I can't see where I am, or where I'm going. Nothing. Then, out of nowhere, I hit something hard. And then this voice starts talking to me, but I can't find the person it's coming from..." she rambled for a few more minutes before arriving at her conclusion. "...and then this... this... _thing_ comes out of my shadow. It's huge! I fight it, and I manage to win, but then the darkness swallows me up , and... and-" she stopped abruptly, realizing that she was nearly shouting, waving her hands wildly, and her two best friends were staring at her like she had two heads. She quickly folded her hands in front of her on the table in an attempt to regain some level of composure.

"Hikaru... they're just _dreams_. Why are you so worked up?" Daichi reached over to place his hand on hers, in an attempt to calm her down a little.

Hikaru withdrew her hand, mostly just out of reaction—although she blushed ever so slightly—then folded her hands in her lap and proceeded to stare at them. "I... I don't know... they just feel so real. Am I crazy?" She looked to her two friend for some validation of her sanity.

"No, you just have a really vivid imagination," Mizuko assured her, rubbing her friend's back. "Don't worry, I'm sure this whole thing will just pass over."

_I hope so..._ Hikaru thought to herself, not entirely convinced that it would. _It just feels... so real_.

Changing the subject, Daichi spoke up again, "So, are you still doing all that crazy research about parallel universes? Maybe _that's_ what's making you have all these weird dreams," he gave a short laugh before eating a handful of fries.

"Well... yeah," Hikaru replied. "And it's _not_ crazy, it's really interesting!" Finally finding her appetite again, Hikaru took a bite of pizza and continued, a little garbled by the food in her mouth, "Admit it, if I found out how to get to another world, you would _jump_ at the chance to visit it with me!"

Daichi laughed again, this time joined by Mizuko. "Yeah, you're probably right," he conceded, finishing off the last of his food. "It would definitely be cool to visit some other world. You keep us posted on that."

"I will," Hikaru stated matter-of-factly. She inhaled the remains of her lunch and added, "Speaking of my crazy research, are you two coming over tonight to work on that science assignment?"

"Yeah, I guess we might as well get it done as soon as we can, then we won't have to worry about it anymore," Mizuko replied. "But, Hikaru, did you have to choose your parallel universe theory to do this project on? I hope the teacher doesn't just fail us for being so... unscientific." She frowned, contemplating what she'd tell her parents if she failed science for doing a final assignment on subject matter that sounded more like science-fiction.

"It'll be fine!" Hikaru assured her. "It'll be so convincing that there's no way we'll fail." She grinned at her other friend. "You trust me, right Daichi?"

Daichi smiled back, and although he was a bit sceptical himself, answered, "yeah, of course I do."

But before the conversation could continue any farther, the bell signalling their ten-minute class warning rang.

"Be at my place at 6:00," Hikaru instructed her friends as she gathered her lunch garbage and picked up her backpack. "My parents aren't home, so we'll order pizza or something and work."

Her friends nodded at her, and the three made their way to their separate classes for the afternoon.

* * *

After a half-hour-long ride home on the subway, Hikaru made the short walk from the station to her house and started up the steps to her front door. She stopped short as she reached the top step, snapping her head around to look behind her. Her gaze was met with nothing unusual.

_Weird... It felt like somebody was watching me..._ Hikaru thought to herself. She shrugged it off as just being jumpy from the day's events, and took the final steps to her front door, inserting the key and unlocking it.

She dropped her bag in the front hall and discarded her shoes into the corner. Normally she would call to her parents that she was home, but they were out of town for the week, so Hikaru instead picked her bag back up from the floor, slung it over her shoulder, and made her way upstairs to her bedroom. Once there, she flopped onto her bed, face engulfed in her pillow.

"What a day..." she mumbled into the fabric. "I wish those dreams would just go away..."

After a minute, her impeded ability to breathe forced her to roll onto her side, taking a deep breath. Staring at the wall for too long proved to be incredibly boring, so Hikaru shifted her position to lay on her back and took to examining the ceiling instead. She raised an arm above her head, studying her hand.

"The one who will open the door, huh..." she said to herself, turning her hand to look at her palm. "What door, I wonder?" Lowering her arm, Hikaru let her eyes slide shut, giving into the wave of tiredness that had suddenly washed over her.

* * *

Hikaru stood in the centre of a huge stained-glass platform. As she looked around at her feet, she could see that a beautiful girl was pictured beneath her. Looking up, she saw three pedestals surrounding her, a different item on each: a sword, a shield, and a staff. Slowly, Hikaru made her way to the pedestal above which the sword seemed to effortlessly levitate. As she picked it up, a strange feeling washed over her.

_I've done this before..._ she thought.

_The power of the warrior. Invincible Courage. A sword of terrible destruction._ The bodiless voice spoke, and Hikaru's feeling of nostalgia increased. _Is this the power you seek?_

Hikaru nodded at the darkness surrounding her. Whoever was watching her, listening and speaking to her must have seen her subtle gesture, and the sword disappeared in a small burst of light.

_Your path is set._ It said. _Now, what will you give up in return?_

Hikaru then turned her attention to the staff, and slowly made herself over to where it hung in the air. As she picked it up, the voice spoke again:

_The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?_

Hikaru nodded again as she slowly turned the staff over in her hands. Just as she was examining the odd shape at the staff's head, it too disappeared in a burst of light. The voice spoke once more:

_You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?_

"Yes..." Hikaru spoke for the first time since her arrival in this strange place. Suddenly, accompanied by rather violent shaking, the three pedestals sank into the vast glass surface, which promptly started to shatter under Hikaru's feet. She tried to run, but soon had nowhere to go, and found herself falling into the endless darkness beneath her.

Darkness... darkness...

* * *

Hikaru let out a shrill scream, sitting bolt upright in her bed. Her breathing was heavy, her heart racing. She put a hand over her chest in an attempt to calm herself, but found it to be a useless effort.

"I don't want to be swallowed by the dark..." she murmured, still very shaken. Pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs, she just rocked back and forth for a few minutes, until she was jolted from her vulnerable state by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Still a little shaky, Hikaru made her way to the front door, cautiously raising a hand to turn the knob and open it Standing in the open doorway were Mizuko and Daichi, both grinning. Upon seeing Hikaru's paled face, though, their expressions changed, now replaced with concern.

"Hikaru, are you okay?" Mizuko asked. "Did something happen?"

"N-no..." Hikaru lied, moving aside to let her two friends step in. "Just a... just a nightmare, that's all."

"Geez, you slept all through your classes and now you're taking a nap?" Daichi joked—it was the best way he knew how to cheer up his friend.

"Oh, shut it," Hikaru replied, a small smile creeping onto her lips. Seeing her two best friends seemed to put her at ease. Her breathing and her heartbeat returned to normal as she led them upstairs. "So should I order pizza?" she asked, plopping back down on her bed.

"Definitely!" Mizuko exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Daichi agreed with a nod. As the two of them pulled out their research supplies and laid them across the floor, Hikaru made the quick call to order their dinner.

"So you **really** think that we could get to other worlds using this formula of yours?" Daichi asked, his mouth full of pizza.

"Absolutely," Hikaru replied, taking a bite out of her own food. "See, look. We can't be the only world out there, don't you think? That's just crazy!"

"I guess so, but... Hikaru, no one's ever found any proof that other worlds exist outside our own. And not to be mean, but... your formula is hardly scientific," was Mizuko's rebuttal. Hikaru frowned, and Mizuko quickly added, "Don't get me wrong! If other worlds existed, I'd love to go to them. But I'm just not sure if this is a good idea for a school project, you know?"

"Well... maybe you're right," Hikaru sighed. "I don't want you two to get in trouble because of me. Maybe we should think of something else to do it on..."

"No way!" Daichi interrupted. "Hikaru, I'd rather do this project, something that nobody else in our class would do, and maybe get a bad mark, than do something boring just to be safe." he smiled at her to back up his words.

Mizuko opened her mouth to object again, but thought better of it, and simply replied with, "All right, let's do this, then. If we're going to fail, we might as well put our all into it." Smiling as well, she placed her hand in the space between the three of them. Hikaru placed her hand on top of it, Daichi following suit.

"Let's do it!" they exclaimed together, clasping their hands briefly, then throwing them into the air, all three falling into fits of laughter afterwards.

Hikaru managed to forget about her strange dreams for the rest of the night, and, thankfully, all the way through until the next afternoon.

* * *

The night before had been surprisingly productive, and Hikaru had gone to school that day feeling genuinely refreshed for the first time in weeks. She managed to pay attention in all her classes, with no interruptions by the strange dreams, or visions, or whatever they were. The only thing to ruin this blissful day for Hikaru was that she had a night shift at work.

During her subway ride home, Hikaru listened to her mp3 player on near-full volume, trying to drown out the thoughts that kept threatening to creep back into her head. Falling, darkness, crashing into that solid stained glass. Fighting that huge monster than spawned from her shadow...

_You are the one who will open the door._

Hikaru's body gave an involuntary twitch as that phrase came back to her. _What door?_ she asked herself again. She sighed. _I thought I was done with these... I hoped..._ She knew she should just ignore the strange dreams—if they really were dreams—but there was such an awful nagging... a feeling that she couldn't simply disregard. She just wished she could figure out what that feeling meant.

But for now, she just needed to worry about getting to work on time.

Hikaru currently held a part-time job at a local fast-food restaurant, where she often worked after school. Once she got to her stop and made the short journey to her house from the subway station, she peeled off her school clothes—it was hot out today, and she was sticky with sweat, even from that short walk—and grabbed her work uniform off her cluttered floor. She paused for a moment in front of her mirror to tie up her unruly chestnut-brown hair. It hung to her shoulders, straight as a stick, but often didn't like to cooperate, sticking out in all directions. She also removed her contacts in favour of her glasses. Her contacts had been itchy that day, and she was glad to have them out.

After tossing on her uniform, Hikaru grabbed her purse and made her way back to the station. She reached into it and pulled out some over-caffeinated drink. She had a late shift tonight, so she'd likely need the extra boost. As she hopped onto her train, she quickly downed about half of it before stowing it back in her bag to finish later. She leaned her head back against the cold metal wall of the train car and turned up her music again, letting herself relax for the time being.

* * *

Hikaru left work at around 12:45 a.m. Grateful to be out, and having discovered that one energy drink didn't serve to sustain her through a hectic night shift, Hikaru clambered onto her train, taking a seat near the back of the car. Seeing as it was close to 1:00 a.m., the train was more or less empty. Hikaru slumped down in her seat, her body desperately wishing to just fall asleep. She allowed her eyes to close, and decided that she'd rest for just a few minutes. She had a bit of time before she needed to get off the train...

Hikaru woke with a start as the train came to a jarring halt. As her eyes tried to adjust, she noticed that the lights were flickering madly, making it difficult to make out anything or anyone else in the car. She looked around nervously—had the train broken down?

"I've come to see the door to this world."

Hikaru gave a small scream and nearly jumped out of her seat as a voice spoke. She strained her eyes to see in the erratic light. Finally she was able to make out a tall, cloaked figure standing in the corner of the car, next to the door. Hikaru froze, but the man continued as though he had no regard for her.

"This world has been connected."

"C-connected...?" Hikaru choked out. "Connected to what?"

"Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed," the man continued, not moving an inch—and also completely ignoring Hikaru's question. She found it a little unnerving that she couldn't even tell if he was looking at her. But even though she couldn't see this, she had an uneasy feeling that he was staring right at her, eyes boring into hers.

"Who... who are you?" she tried, not expecting an answer. "Where did you come from? What... what do you want?"

"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door," the man pressed, still unmoving. "There is so very much to learn... you understand so little."

_Little?_ Hikaru found herself now pressed tight to the wall, the cold steel chilling her body. Terrified, she managed to choke out, "You... you don't know anything about me. How can you know what I do and do not understand?" She propped herself up on her hands and continued, "Whatever is out there, I plan to learn about it..."

"A meaningless effort," the man replied, in an almost mocking tone. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

Hikaru opened her mouth to respond, having found a bit of bravery. But just as she began to speak, the trained lurched forward violently, the lights now flickering on almost blindingly. By the time Hikaru managed to get her bearings after nearly being thrown from her seat, the man in the corner was gone, and the train was now continuing its regular route through the tunnel.

She spent the rest of her short ride home sitting stock still, rattled to her core. _Who the hell was that man? What did he want? __**Where**__ was he from? _Hikaru had a sudden and crazy thought... that man wasn't from her world. He was from somewhere else. That's what he meant by the world not yet being "connected".

Hikaru nearly sprinted back to her house after disembarking the train, not taking any care to be quiet on her way in. She threw her bag onto her bed and took a seat at her desk, snatching up her phone and dialling Mizuko's number first.

"Hello...?" came a groggy voice from the other end of the line.

"Mizuko! Oh my god, the most insane thing just happened to me. I need you to meet me right away, please!" Hikaru nearly screamed into the receiver. She was shaking ever so slightly.

The muffled sound of Mizuko rolling over in her bed could be heard. "Hikaru... it's almost 2:00 in the morning. Can't this wait?" she asked, yawning loudly.

"No, it absolutely can_not_ wait," Hikaru insisted. "I need you and Daichi to meet me at our usual place. I'll call him right now and I'll meet you there in ten minutes. Got it?"

Mizuko sighed heavily. "All right, I'll see you in a bit, then." She hung up the phone, Hikaru doing the same. Hikaru then hastily dialled Daichi's cell phone. He'd probably still be awake, he went to bed late.

"Hey, what's up?" he answered the phone casually.

"Daichi, oh my god!" Hikaru exclaimed rather hysterically. "I need you to meet me and Mizuko at our usual place in ten, okay?"

"O... kay?" was Daichi's confused response. "Is everything all right?"

"Not sure, but please, **please** come, okay?" Hikaru pleaded.

"All right, sure. I'll be there," he replied, a hint of concern still colouring his voice.

"Good!" Hikaru exclaimed as she prodded the "end call" button on her phone, quickly changed out of her work uniform, shoved her phone in her pocket, and headed downstairs to the door.

The trio's "usual place" was a sad little playground in one of the subdivisions that lay in the centre of the distance between their three houses. All the equipment was still there, but a lot of the families who lived in the subdivision had moved away. Most of them had worked in the factory that closed a couple of years back, so with no work to be found there anymore, they had moved elsewhere. On a nice day, the three friends would meet up here to talk, and to play around on the monkey bars and the slides which they were obviously too big for.

This time would be their last meeting there.

* * *

Hikaru ran as fast as she could, her legs starting to feel the strain. She wasn't used to running quite this much. As she neared the playground, she was stopped suddenly by something. Something that terrified her.

"No... no. It was a dream!" Hikaru cried as a small, black creature rose from the ground in front of her. It looked to be made from the very shadows it had appeared from. Desperate, Hikaru picked up a stone and lobbed it at the creature, to no avail. The stone went right through the strange shadowy being, skipping across the ground behind it. Hikaru slowly backed up, shaking, but turned quickly as she heard a noise behind her. Her wide eyes were met with the sight of at least ten more of these... _things_ rising from the darkness.

"No!" Hikaru screamed again. She tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. She was surrounded. As she prepared herself for the worst—bracing herself for a hand-to-hand fight, if it came to that—a bright light suddenly appeared before, and into her hands fell... a key?

"What...? What is this supposed to do?" Hikaru asked no one in particular. An answer to her question followed almost immediately.

_Keyblade... Keyblade..._

"Keyblade...?" Hikaru echoed the mysterious voice. "Well... worth a try, then..." she took a swing at one of the shadow creatures. To her surprise—and delight—it disappeared back into the darkness as the Keyblade hit it. Hikaru let out a joyful, although somewhat frenzied, laugh. Her swordsmanship wasn't exactly good, but if this weapon could kill these monsters, then she'd do what she could!

Swinging haphazardly to take out the creatures in front of her, Hikaru took off at a run again, occasionally swinging the blade out to the side to destroy anything that may have popped up. But as she reached the playground, any joy she may have felt dissolved very suddenly. Above her head was a huge, swirling mass of darkness. Purple and black and endless. Hikaru's eyes widened in renewed terror as she stared at the thing, suddenly unable to move.

"What... is that?" she asked herself, frozen in place, staring into the endless depths of the darkness above her. She was snapped out of her trance by a familiar voice not far away.

"Hikaru! I can't believe it... you were right! You were right all along!"

"Mizuko?" Hikaru turned to look at her friend, standing about ten feet from her. "Mizuko, what's going on?" she rushed over to her friend's side, but couldn't finish her approach. Darkness—the same darkness that had spawned those creatures, that hung in the sky above them—rose out of the ground, surrounding Mizuko with shadowy tendrils.

"Hikaru... it's come to take us to other worlds. Come with me!" Mizuko held out her hand, just out of Hikaru's reach.

"But the darkness—" Hikaru started.

"Don't be afraid of it!" Mizuko assured her friend. But her eyes looked different than normal, and her usually calm demeanour had all but vanished.

Hikaru reached once more for Mizuko's hand, but before she could make contact, the darkness welled up, swallowing Mizuko.

"No! Mizuko!" Hikaru screamed as the darkness dissipated, and the spot where her friend had just stood was now vacant. "Mizuko..." quickly wiping away the tears that were welling up in her eyes, Hikaru turned around, willing some determination to come forth. "I have to find Daichi."

Once again she ran through the playground, but she didn't have far to go, as she found Daichi standing in front of a large door—one that most certainly had not been there before. It was huge and ornate, and Hikaru had an odd feeling that she had seen it before...

As she approached, Daichi turned to her, his face void of expression. "Hikaru..." he breathed, extending his hand just as Mizuko had done moments before. "It's time."

Hikaru stood her ground, Keyblade in hand. Something was definitely very wrong. "Time for what?" She asked, a slight edge to her voice. Her grip tightened on her weapon as she awaited a response.

Daichi opened his mouth to answer, but was cut short as the enormous door behind him suddenly swung open, pulling him inside before slamming shut.

"Daichi!" Hikaru cried as she made for the door. Surely she could open it and get him back? She had lost Mizuko, but she wouldn't lose Daichi as well... but as soon as she took a step, a whole horde of the shadow creatures appeared before her, blocking her way. "Get out of my way!" she screamed, cutting them down in a rage. "Daichi!"

She soon lost count of how many of these monsters she'd slain, but eventually made herself a path through them, swinging her Keyblade wildly, any sense of proper fighting gone. But just as she reached for the door, it disappeared, leaving a ghostly glowing outline for only a moment before all trace of it was gone.

"NO!" Hikaru bellowed, falling to her knees. "Mizuko... Daichi..." dropping the mysterious weapon she held, she cupped her face in hands and cried. She didn't care about the darkness above threatening to engulf her. She didn't care about the monsters that surrounded her. She just wanted them back. Her friends...

_You are the one..._

Hikaru's head snapped up as she heard that voice again. "No," she said again, more calmly this time. "No, I can't let things be like this. I'll get them back!"

She stood, once again brandishing the strange weapon she'd been given. She made to charge at the shadow creatures—who seemed to have multiplied while she had been crying—but didn't even reach one before she was suddenly jerked into the air. Twisting her head around, she saw she was being pulled into the darkness overhead. In a panic, she reached out for something to hold onto. Her hand found one of the metal rungs of the monkey bars she had climbed on with her friends just that week. As she looked around, she saw everything around her was being sucked into the void as well. Her home, no, her whole world, was being consumed by darkness.

_Don't be afraid... You hold the mightiest weapon of all. _

Hikaru tried to keep her grip, but the pull was too strong and she couldn't hold on forever.

_So don't forget_—

Her hand slipped from the bar, and Hikaru screamed as she watched her world vanish beneath her.

_You are the one who will open the door._

* * *

**Notes** Wow, so this chapter only took me 3 months to get done. I'm hoping for much faster work in the future. Like I said before, this is my first real writing project in years, so I hope I did a decent job! I had to pull Ansem's dialogue and the Dive to the Heart dialogue right from the game, so I hope it wasn't boring! Please let me know what you think, and constructive criticism is always welcome :)

-Mei-chan


End file.
